Santa on Christmas Eve
Santa Claus is a legendary figure who brings gifts for children in the evening and late hours of Christmas Eve on December 24 every year. The loving Santa is believed to be Saint Nicholas or Sinterklaas, also known as Father Christmas, Kris Kringle or simply Santa in many cultures, and some others believe that he brings gifts and happiness on Saint Nicholas Day, his Feast Day on December 6. The legend may be based on customary tales about the historical figure of the gift-giver Saint Nicholas. From the Greek and the old Byzantine empires’ folklores to Basil of Caesarea also have similar legends and tales of the loving gift-giver. Based on this tradition, the Basil's feast day on January 1 is celebrated as the occasion of exchanging gifts in Greece.
Another legend on Santa Claus has it that he lives in the in the land of snow, in the far north, geographically in the snowbound areas around the North Pole. Perhaps, based on this assumption, the American version of the legends of Santa Claus says that he lives at his house on the North Pole, while Father Christmas is often said to reside in the mountains of Korvatunturi in Lapland Province of Finland. Santa Claus lives happily forever with his wife Mrs. Claus, numerous elves with magical powers, and eight or nine flying reindeers.
Children may take note of another legend of Santa according to which he watches over the behaviour of children throughout the year and classifies them in two categories; nice children and naughty children. Based on his list of nicely behaving children, he presents all of the good boys and girls in the world with nice gifts including toys, candy, toffees and other gifts. The naughty children are given coal or other worthless things. Without fail, he visits all children’s homes in the world on the night of Christmas Eve with their gifts. He is helped in accomplishing this enormous feat by fairies and elves that make the toys in the gift factory of Santa and the reindeers that pull his sleigh and carts to transport the toys and other gifts to various parts of the world where the children’s homes are located.
The original portraits and paintings of Saint Nicholas show him wearing the customary dresses of bishops. But from the 19th century onwards, Santa Claus has been portrayed as a plump or fat and round figure, always happy and smiling, with a snow white beard, wearing a red coat or cloak with white collar and cuffs, red trousers with white cuffs and a black leather belt and black boots. This year, during the Copenhagen summit on climate change, and as an effort of activists campaigning against global warming, there were many caricatures of Santa Claus appearing in the media including Internet with green replacing the legendary red color in Santa’s apparels.
According to many religious and other authorities on the customs and religions, criticisms have come up on teaching children believing in Santa Claus. Some critics feel that the Santa Claus tradition is against the origins and purpose of celebrating Christmas, while others propagate that the character of Santa Claus is a lie and parents should not teach their children to believe in the existence of Santa Claus. Yet another criticism is that Santa Claus is the result of campaigns to commercialize Christmas holidays and to sell large quantities of merchandise related to the Santa tradition. Some other criticisms are based on the assumption that children are deliberately misled by their elders to believe in superstitious, unscientific and baseless stories.
Whatever the criticisms against Santa are, whatever may be the truth about the legend of Santa Claus, I love him simply because he is a symbol of love, affection, happiness, sharing and good behaviour. He is far better than others who spread rumors based on faiths and customs and instigate people to hate others, and try to instigate crimes against humanity. Rather than the basis of a belief, we should see if it brings happiness and peaceful living conditions for all the people of the world! Now, go ahead and enjoy celebrating Christmas, New Year and all other seasonal festivals and celebrations!
Merry Christmas
and
Happy New Year
Namitha in a black & white gown
The author of this snap adds, "Namitha strikes a pose in the black and white dress designed by Sidney Sladen", in the photo uploaded on 22 Dec 2009. (Note: The original photo is replaced and the original author's note may not be accurate.)
Miss World Kaiane Aldorino
Miss Kaiane Aldorino of Gibraltar waves after being crowned Miss World during the Miss World final in Midrand, outside Johannesburg, South Africa, December 12, 2009.
Kareena Kapoor dazzles in a newlook gown
The gorgeous lass of the original Bollywood Family, the Kapoor Khandan made famous by versatile geniuses starting from grand grandfather Prithvi Raj Kapoor, the original showman of India that made Hindi films popular internationally, Raj Kapoor, Paa Randhir Kapoor, sister Karishma Kapoor, not forgetting the other icons of the Kapoor Khandan like Shammi Kapoor and Shashi Kapoor, is following the footsteps of sister Karishma, who made a bold deviation from the history of the family by being the first female to break the family tradition of Kapoor girls WILL NOT face the lens glare for films. Whatever may be the reaction from the family, Kareena has that special charm to look so gorgeous in any kind of outfit, Indian costumes or western style garments, covering the entire body or to flaunt her flawless bldy in a skimpy dress like a bikini. The beauty is not only appreciated by her fans for her beauty, but her talents and her ability to make even ordinary films into hits. No wonder, she has a host of hits under her belt (?). The result is that currently, she is one of the busiest actresses in Bollywood, and one of the top paid actresses.
Mallika Sherawat at the AFI Fest 2009
Indian actress Mallika Sherawat attends the red carpet screening of "The Road" at AFI Fest 2009 in Hollywood, CA. The sultry siren seems to be looking for settling as a Hollywood actress having bagged some projects like Hisss and the proposed love story based on Prez Obama's presidential campaign and some political heavyweights in the campaigns. She is mostly anchored in the Hollywood environs, excepting appearing in some baring acts in India and drawing criticisms for her near-nude shows, suggestive gyrations leaving nothing to imagination, despite court cases lapped against her in India for vulgar, obscene acts and appearances.
Hansika at Maska Audio Release
The original author who uploaded this snap is of the opinion – as modified here, “Hansika Motwani doesn't need much introduction. She is the latest hot sensation of south India. She is a talented artist who has performed some memorable roles in many pictures and the TV serials as a child artist. The sizzling hot actress whose radiant smile and luscious body captured the hearts of millions of fans in Bollywood and down south with her wonderful acting talents has come of age. Here the audio launch of MS Raju's Telugu movie 'Maska' was held in the song set at Rama Naidu studios on December 25. "I'm very happy to say that Chakri who composed music for my block buster film 'Desamuduru' has again did it in 'Maska'. I felt comfortable working with MS Raju and Ram as well", said the heroine Hansika Motwani”.
Here is a brief intro on the Marathi Sindhi girl: Hansika Motwani, born 9 August 1991, in Mumbai to Pradeep Motwani, a businessman, and mother Mona Motwani, a dermatologist by profession, began her acting career graph with TV soap Shakalaka Boom Boom on the story of the boy Sanju and his magic pencil. Then she acted a girl's role in the TV serial Des Mein Nikla Hoga Chand for which she received an award for the Favorite Child Award at Star Parivaar Awards. It was followed by her role as one of the child artists in the Hindi movie Koi Mil Gaya.
Later Hansika made her debut in Puri Jagannadh's Telugu film Desamuduru opposite Allu Arjun, a film about a crime reporter falling in love with an unusual character, like a sanyasi. In the Hindi film ‘He: The Only One’ she did the role of a killer taking revenge for her family. Hansika made her debut as a leading actress in Bollywood with Himesh Reshammiya in Aap Ka Surroor (2007), playing the role of his lover Ria. The film became a hit and her performance was highly appreciated. She made her Kannada debut as a lead actress in Bindaas (2008) with Puneet Rajkumar. Then she paired with Jr. NTR in the film Kantri (2008), a super hit, followed by her lead role with Ram in Maska. Currently she is working on her Tamil film Maapilai opposite actor Dhanush.
Minissha Lamba is relaxing these days!
Minissha Lamba’s fans may be missing her as she did not have any new film releases recently. The Kashmir-born actress, who was in New Delhi recently to attend the launch of designer collection, Kyne, told reporters that her film Well Done Abba is complete and she has now a lot of time to spend with herself and explore other interests. Recently stalking actresses by fans and miscreants was on the increase and she has had a fair share of it and was quite. She claimed that has stopped now. She was quick to brush away stories that she refused to act in Karan Johar’s recently released film Kurbaan ‘because she was uncomfortable doing a kissing scene’, and the sultry actress said, “I could not do Kurbaan because my passport had expired and it could not be renewed in time. I will do any kind of roles if the script demands it.” Though Lamba had a long term ambition to become a journalist, while studying she pursued modelling appeared in several television commercials for hot brands such as LG, Sony, Cadbury, Hajmola, Airtel, Sunsilk, and many others. After doing a music video (Tera Suroor) for Himesh Reshammiya’s hit music album Aap Ka Suroor, acted in her debut movie ‘Yahaan’, followed by Bachna Ae Haseeno, Corporate, The Rebel, Honeymoon Travels Pvt. Ltd., Heyy Babyy, Kidnap, etc. Kidnap was highly acclaimed at Cannes Film Festival, and Lamba's performance was critically acclaimed.
Is Kareena Kapoor the highest paid actress?
Unconfirmed reports say that the gorgeous Bollywood actress has bagged a new contract to act in a movie that offered her Rs 10 crores as her acting fees. If the report is true she beats the currently highest paid actress Aishwarya Rai, who is being paid Rs 6 crores for her role in under-production the Tamil movie Endhiran (Robot) opposite the veteran Tamil hero and the idol of millions, Rajani Kanth. However, it is good news, especially because Bollywood did not have much of box office hits this year and the global recession seems to have an effect on producers, and this years' disputes between producers and multiplex owners delayed the release of many movies that had to be released on later dates, months after they were to be released. This results in cashes in releasing dates and many movies lost heavily. Industry analysts say that the total loss to the film industry is anything around Rs 500 crores. Under this background, getting a contract worth Rs ten crores for a movie is commendable. But it is no wonder, as Kareena has many top recent hits to her credit.
Aishwarya Rai - the Longines Ambassador
Aishwarya Rai, the Longines Watches Ambassador, talking about time, says ‘Time is about Now’ and that she has enjoyed her 10 years with the Longines family. Not only watches, the beautiful blue-eyed Bollywood actress, described as the most beautiful woman in the world by the likes of Angelina Jolie, is the brand ambassador for many prestigious brands in the world. She is one of the highest paid, most accomplished and talented actresses India has ever had and she has appeared in many International films including Hollywood films. She has been a regular in International film festivals including Cannes Film Festival. She is one such film actress from India who has one of the largest international fan following.
